BlackBerry Storm 3 rumours resurface

Rumours surrounding the BlackBerry Storm 3 have resurfaced following information revealed by an analyst

The BlackBerry Storm 3 is currently in prototype phase and reportedly due to ship sometime next year.

We already brought you news of the Storm 3, AKA the Mr. T, at the end of September but we were optimistically hoping that the handset would be officially announced before the end of this year; now however it's sounding like the announcement won't come until next.

According to Electronista.com details about the device being a 'cross between the Storm2 and one of RIM's non-touch Qwerty devices' came from Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu, citing 'contacts in the industry and parts suppliers' for the leaks.

No other spec details are known about the phone right now, but we imagine the shift from the traditional BlackBerry form factor into the realms of the touchscreen sliding-Qwerty are spurred on by the wealth of public interest in handsets like the Nokia N900 and Motorola Droid (Milestone).

We'll keep hoping for word from RIM before the year is out, but in all likelihood we won't get the full low-down until 2010, still, there are plenty of exiting handsets in the works to tide us over.